Why Religions & Dictators Hate being Made Fun Of

Humour and satire are incredibly powerful mediums for exposing the powerful. One only has to look from President Erdogan of Turkey demanding the arrest of a German comedian for a sketch, Kim Jong Un banning satire in North Korea or religious police attacking free thinkers for “blasphemy” across the globe, satire is the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.

In a light hearted way it asks people to question assumptions and dogma in their society. The BBC’s “Monty Python & The Holy Grail” was a beautiful illustration of how simply by humanising religious figures and stories one can examine religion from a different angle and question the authority of Church in society.

In this piece Bassem Youssef discusses his experience in Egypt as a comedian discussing the triple assault on comedy: Social Media Judgement, Religion, And Fascist Regimes.